Tech

This company claims to sell the world's first odorless socks. We put them to the test

MeltMall is determined to take down one of humanity's most bitter enemies: stinky feet.

The Chinese company is best known for trying to solve our most pressing everyday grievances with its innovative products: It's made Lockbook, a diary that locks and unlocks with a fingerprint scanner, and Glovax, a pair of gloves that claims to protect your hands from calluses.

The socks are infused with three metals — silver, copper, and zinc — which allegedly kill the bacteria in your sweat that cause the "stinky feet" smell you know and love. They're also designed to be more breathable than your average sock, to the point where the company claims that "it feels like you're not even wearing socks."

Finally, the company claims, the metal doesn't wash away. Regular metal ion socks (apparently developed for space travel) allegedly lose their benefits after washing. Not so with the Magic Socks, which will retain their odor-eliminating properties after being washed.

Armed with a small package of socks, a smaller group of stinky-footed sock testers, and the scientific method, I set out to find out just how odorless these socks really are.

I distributed the socks to my roommate, my boyfriend, best friend, and myself. Each tester spent two days wearing one odorless sock and one regular sock, at various levels of activity. Below, I've documented our results.

The Lazy Test

My boyfriend has never willingly left his house for any occasion besides work. This made him the perfect candidate to test the socks on sweat-free, action-free days.

He spent two days wearing one odorless and one regular sock. On both days, besides walking a short distance to and from work, he did nothing but sit around. Neither sock was washed between days. Yes, he is that lazy.

MeltMall compares its socks to their inferior compatriots.

Image: meltmall

After the first day, the difference was noticeable. The odorless sock was, true to its name, odorless, after the first day. The regular sock still smelled, as socks tend to.

After the second day, however, there was no difference, or only a very small difference, between the two socks after the second day of no activity.

My boyfriend's conclusion: "It's worth two socks." That is, if you live a lazy lifestyle, one pair of odorless socks can take the place of two pairs of regular socks — if you only wore odorless socks, you could potentially buy half as many pairs.

But is that really worth it? A six-pack of basic ankle socks from Fruit of the Loom is $5, while a three-pack of Magic Socks is $19. So, no, not really.

The Average Day Test

My roommate is a law school student with a reasonable work and social life. Armed with one odorless and one regular sock, she traversed many city blocks between home, work, class, and social events, but she didn't work out or do anything particularly strenuous.

Since she has many different textures of sock, she wore one Magic Sock with a thin sock the first day, and a different Magic Sock with a thick sock the second day. (Magic Socks socks are quite thin).

Magic Socks come in two colors and three styles.

Image: meltmall

After the first day, her Magic Sock wasn't odorless, but it certainly smelled less than the thin sock.

The Magic Sock hadn't eliminated her feet's odor entirely — her foot still smelled — but it did a reasonable job of masking the scent from the outside world. The thin normal sock also got smelly much more quickly. My roommate noticed that it was already smelly around noon, while the Magic Sock still didn't smell. At the end of the day, the Magic Sock smelled significantly less than the thin normal sock.

Image: meltmall

On the second day, however, the Magic Sock faltered. The Magic Sock and the thick normal sock got smelly at around the same speeds, and the difference between them at the end was marginal at best.

So, is it worth it? A six-pack of Magic ankle socks is $38, as said above, while a six-pack of thick crew socks from Target is $12. Basically, in buying Magic Socks, you're getting the same benefits that you would from regular thick socks, but paying $26 extra for the privilege of those socks being thin.

So, how much do you like thin socks? This one's up to you.

The Active Test

I prefer not to have very busy days, but I'm willing to stomach them for the purpose of rigorous science.

I wore an odorless sock and a regular sock (thin) for two full days of activities — between home, work, a party, shopping, and home again, sprinkled with a little coffee outing, lunch date, and a dinner date. I walked over a mile and a half each day.

MeltMall claims that Magic Socks will keep you from falling, somehow. We did not test this claim.

Image: meltmall

Even with the increased activity, I found that I had the same results as my roommate. The Magic Sock certainly still had an odor, but it was reasonably reduced compared to that of the normal sock.

Between the two days, the sock was washed. This is one thing the Magic Socks get right: The benefits of the sock were the same on both days.

The Ice Skating Test

My best friend took the socks for a spin in what is perhaps the smelliest activity on Earth: ice skating. The activity is strenuous (my friend had never skated before), so he knew he would sweat buckets. Ice rinks are stinky, because the tend to be filled with smelly, sweaty skaters. To make matters worse, my friend rented ice skates, meaning his feet were intermixing with the pungent odors of the feet of hundreds of other New Yorkers who had rented the skates before.

He wore a thick normal sock, I wore a thin normal sock, and we both wore one Magic ankle sock. Holding our noses, he and I ventured into the Bryant Park ice rink, at which point we were instantly bombarded by the smell of sweaty bodies. This would be the true test of the Magic Sock.

We ice skated for more than an hour, and emerged from the rink sweaty, wet messes. (The rink was outdoors, and it rained for much of the hour, but we suffered for science.)

The Magic Socks held up surprisingly well here — much better than they did in the less active trials. My Magic Sock had a recognizable, but not horrible odor. His had almost none. Our normal socks, by contrast, were pungent.

We even found that our feet that had worn the Magic Socks smelled a bit less than our feet that had worn the regular socks. Both were pretty awful, and the difference wasn't huge, but it was a difference nonetheless.

So what did we learn?

If you lead a sedentary lifestyle like that of my boyfriend, Magic Socks can save you a few days of laundry or some drawer space. But they won't save you money. And let's be honest — if all you're doing is sitting around your house, stinky feet probably aren't a huge problem for you.

If you're on a tight budget and aren't an athlete, you can obtain the same benefits as the Magic Socks with regular thick socks, and save reasonable money. That said, in many regions, it's impractical to wear thick socks for much of the year, so Magic Socks are a reasonable, thinner alternative for warmer months.

But athletes, get out your wallets. The contrast between Magic Socks and regular socks after strenuous and smelly physical activity was stark. If you're an athlete, or you spend a lot of time in smelly, sweaty places, the benefits of eliminating a bad smell out of your life can build up over time. It could actually be worth paying the extra $26, especially given that the socks don't lose their benefits with washing.

If you're a skier, skater, hiker, or live an extreme and smelly lifestyle, these socks are for you. Your feet will thank you.

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